


Dandelions and Solidarity

by greeneggs101



Series: Tussie-Mussies [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Flower Crowns, Language of Flowers, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-28 07:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2724587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greeneggs101/pseuds/greeneggs101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If the others found out,” Jason said, “you’d have that many more people to back you up, and to unleash the fury of the Gods on anyone who tries to give you trouble.”--House of Hades</p><p>...At least Jason was pretty sure he said fury, not flowers. But it works.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dandelions and Solidarity

**Author's Note:**

> Ok this ended up a lot longer than I intended. But shenanigans happened. And one simply does not say no to shenanigans.

“Jason....Jason!” 

Jason’s eyes cracked open reluctantly, unable to resist Piper’s voice calling his name.

“Jason, wake up!” 

Jason felt himself jolt awake. “What the Hades... Piper, you promised you wouldn’t use your Charmspeak to wake me up anymore,” he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

“Unless it was an emergency. Which this is.” She opened the windows in the room and Jason nearly cried out as he was blinded by the sudden burst of sunlight. “Now come on, get up! Cabin inspection is today!”

“And...” Jason groaned, falling back on the bed, hoping that if he ignored the sun, it would go away. Unfortunately, that technique did not work on his girlfriend. Not that he would ever purposely ignore his girlfriend.

“.... Will and Nico will be here soon.”

“Wait....what?”

Piper sighed, then took ahold of his arms to help him focus. “Cabin inspection. You need to clean. Will and Nico will be by to perform inspection in a half hour or so.”

In a rush, the words finally made sense to Jason’s sleep fogged brain. Before he left Camp Jupiter he had Iris messaged Piper to let her know he was headed back. Piper had mentioned Nico would be performing his first cabin inspection today and that Will would be walking him through it. 

Jason looked around his cabin. He hadn’t really ever picked up from the last time he was at Camp Half-Blood. As a result, his bed and the surrounding area looked as if a venti had been through fairly recently. 

“Oh, right.”

Piper laughed and kissed his cheek. “I got to go bug my own campers about cleaning.”

“Your campers are always neat.”

Piper smiled. “Okay you got me. I got to go clean my own bunk.” She gave him one last kiss before heading out.

Jason sighed. He started to straighten his bed and push some of the accumulated junk underneath, hiding it behind the covers. 

A cool breeze drifted in from outside, the October air giving giving Jason a brief chill. He hoped it would warm up later so he could work on a few more shrines today.

He was just starting to put his clothes away when he heard voices outside his door. 

“Did you see what they were wearing?”

“I thought it was cute.”

“It was freaky. As if Nico could get any weirder, he and Will have to... flaunt... like this. Nico’s just dragging Will down to his level of creepy.”

“Drew you’re not being fair, you’re just mad that Nico noticed the make-up you left out on your bed during inspection.” 

“I wasn’t finished with my make up yet!” Drew shouted, clearly exasperated her gossip companion wasn’t agreeing with her. 

“Drew’s right. They’re both just being weird.” A third voice piped up.

They passed by the door, and Jason was about ready to confront the group when he spotted Nico and Will walking past the Poseidon cabin. Percy was away at college with Annabeth so that would be a pretty quick inspection. Jason looked behind him to the clothes he still had laying around and quickly ran back inside.

But as he turned, he saw that Will and Nico both sported... something....on their heads. Were those hats?

Jason didn’t think about it much as he quickly stuffed his remaining clothing in a drawer, shoving it closed just as a knock came from the entry way. 

Jason turned and saw both Nico and Will in the doorway, Nico with a clipboard in his hand. Then he saw exactly what was perched on their heads.

Before he could comment though he caught Nico’s glare. The message was pretty clear.

_Say one word about the flower crowns and you’ll meet the pointy end of my sword._

Jason just grinned and waved his hands. “What’s up guys?”

“Inspection time, Jason!” Will said exuberantly. Nico just scowled and looked pointedly at the dresser, which, though closed, had several shirts and socks hanging out of it.

Jason just managed a weak smile and stood aside while Nico and Will performed the inspection. 

He stared at the rings of flowers on top of their heads as they walked around his cabin, checking things off. Nico had his hair up in a short bun today, making the flower crown slip a little over his forehead. Will’s crown looked more like a headband encircling his head.

At first glance the crowns looked nothing alike. Nico’s seemed to be made primarily of small purple flowers, along with some larger bell shaped white flowers towards the back of the crown. 

Will’s crown was constructed out of small yellow flowers as well as several purple flowers with pointed petals and yellow centers.

However, Jason looked closer and saw that both crowns had several small bunches of what Jason was pretty sure were daisies, as well as couple of flowers that resembled pom poms. 

Nico caught him looking and scowled again. “Got something to say, Grace?”

Jason grinned. “Nah, just admiring the fashion statement.”

“Aren’t they great?” Will said excitedly, fingering one of the purple flowers on his crown. “They just appeared when we woke up this morning. Nico is pretty sure they’re from Persephone, so we decided to wear them for a day or two so we don’t offend her.” The son of Apollo turned to grin at Nico, “I think Nico’s looks better, but he looks so cute in it, I won’t steal it.” He patted one of the pom pom flowers and kissed Nico’s cheek, his grin growing wider. 

Nico stared determinedly at his clipboard, but Jason could see a faint blush darkening his cheeks. “Shut up, Solace.”

Will didn’t seem perturbed at all by Nico’s words, instead slinging an arm around his shoulders and glancing at the clipboard. “Nico...” He drawled. “You can’t give Jason a 1 just cause he didn’t compliment you on your gorgeous flower crown as soon as you walked in.”

Nico’s blush darkened. “Gods, shut up, seriously. His place is a mess and he’s a fool if he thinks I can’t see the junk hiding under his bed.”

“Nico...” this time both Jason and Will whined and harmony.

“Ugh. Fine! I’ll give you a three, but only because I know you just got back last night. Next time I won’t be so forgiving.” Nico stated, stalking out of the cabin, Will on his heels turning at the last second to give Jason a short wave. 

Jason watched them walk back to the Big House to turn in the report. They were walking pretty close when Nico reached out to take Will’s hand, swinging the clipboard in the other.

Their flowers crowns shown pretty bright in the morning sun.

Jason didn’t spare the crowns much further thought until lunchtime when Piper asked what shrines he would be building during his time at Camp Half-Blood. 

“I thought I’d work on Proserpina’s... I mean Persephone’s.” Jason said.... and then thought back to earlier in the morning when Will mentioned that their flower crowns were probably from Persephone.

“Oh yeah, did you see Nico and Will’s crowns?” Piper was smiling. “Nico looked embarrassed but still wore his proudly, even after Drew teased him about it.”

“Oh yeah... she walked by my cabin later saying some pretty nasty stuff about Nico.”

Piper sighed. “I’ll try talking to her again. I know she enjoys her gossip but she’ really can’t go around bad talking others just because she got slighted.” She looked so forlorn at her sister’s actions that Jason tried to subtly change the subject.

“Will said Nico thought they were from Persephone?”

Piper nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised. Not sure if Nico told you, but they both went to the underworld on the equinox to Persephone’s welcome home party. Nico was pretty nervous about it.”

“Yeah he mentioned that he was worried Persephone would try to poison them or something.” Jason recalled. It was in the same Iris message that Nico revealed he and Will were dating. 

“Well, they both returned unharmed.” Piper grinned. “I think Persephone approves of Will if the flowers are anything to go by.”

“What?”

“The purple flowers in Will’s crown. They’re called crocus flowers.” Piper leaned her head against Jason’s shoulder and Jason wrapped an arm around her. “I remembered them from a script my dad received but didn’t take. The director wanted to use a lot of flowers or something to symbolize certain feelings in the movie. One scene had a bunch of crocus flowers which was supposed to symbolize ‘Cheerfulness’ or ‘foresight,’ but the scene was anything but cheerful...” 

“Huh...” Jason huffed. He thought back to his plans for Persephone’s shrine. “Do you think Persephone did that on purpose?”

Piper nodded. “I think so. The language of flowers was huge during the 1800s both in America and in Europe. I’m sure Persephone loved that her domain was being used to declare love, celebrate friendships, or even say ‘I strongly dislike you’.” 

Jason laughed, then thought back to the bulbs he had planted at Proserpina’s shrine on Temple Hill. He hoped purple tulips and bluebells meant good things and not ‘I strongly dislike you.’ 

Will and Nico were still wearing their flower crowns at dinner time, sitting away from both the Apollo and Hades table, instead choosing to sit on the steps near the dining pavilion and talk. Jason had noticed over the past year or so that the more excited Nico got, the more he talked with his hands. Occasionally Will had to reach over to stabilize Nico’s plate before it went flying out of his lap. 

Jason watched as Will laughed at something Nico had said and son of Apollo reached out to again stop Nico’s plate from tipping over. Nico lowered his hands, resting them on Will’s. The blond leaned in closer to give Nico a brief kiss. Jason looked away as Nico blushed. He was happy Nico felt comfortable enough to be affectionate in public, but it started to feel like he was spying.

As he began to pick at his food, he heard voices from the other side of the dining pavilion. They were faint, but he caught Nico’s and Will’s name once or twice. Concentrating a little, he willed the breeze that was drifting through the camp to carry the words to him. He could now hear the conversation clearly, but it only served to make him lose his appetite. 

“Stupid flower crowns. How nerdy... Do you think they were Nico’s idea? To make himself even stranger than before?”

“Can you really see the son of Hades wearing flowers on his head? It had to be Will’s idea. Gods, they look so dumb.”

Jason didn’t recognize the voices of the speakers, nor could he discern the gossipers from the crowd of demigods at the other side of the pavilion. 

Suddenly, Jason wasn’t very hungry and he threw the rest of his dinner in the flames, muttering a quick “for the gods.” He passed by Nico and Will on his way out. They were still talking and laughing, and he was glad that the other campers’ conversation had not reached them.

But he also knew how fast gossip traveled, it would only be a matter of time. 

He nearly jumped when a hand touched his shoulder, but it was just Piper coming to see what was wrong.

“I heard other campers talking about Will and Nico’s flower crowns.” Jason mumbled. “It’s just not fair, why can’t they just be themselves without others commenting on it?”

“Because we’re all children of the gods and teenagers, its practically in our DNA to be spiteful.” Piper mused. Jason cracked a smile. 

“I’m sure those other campers would just be jealous if they knew what those flowers meant.” Piper chuckled.

Jason frowned. “I thought you didn’t know what the other flowers meant...just the...Crockpot?”

“Crocus.” Piper sighed. “And yeah that’s the only one I know. But I’m pretty sure the other flowers have positive meanings too.” She took his hand. “Come on, I know it’s bothering you. We’ll ask Chiron to see if there’s a book or something in the Big House on it.”

He let her lead them up path to the big house. When they got there, Jason quickly spun a story about wanting to know flower meanings to make Persephone’s shrine a little more personal. It was true enough, he had been working on making all of the shrines as significant to the gods as possible. Kymopoleia had even gotten her special limited edition action figure. It was a limited edition because there were only two in existence, one at each shrine. One of the children of Hephaestus designed the miniature Kim to spin her own disk around, creating tiny miniature, but powerful storms. During a test run, the tiny storm had managed to create winds powerful enough to throw Bunker 9 into disarray. Occasionally, making the shrines personal was difficult for Jason, but he enjoyed his work. He wanted all of the gods to be recognized and their shrines respected. 

Chiron seemed a bit puzzled by the request for a floriography book, but nonetheless found a volume that was probably old enough to be a primary source on the language of flowers. Piper and Jason poured over the text, which luckily had several well drawn pictures of all of the flowers.

They quickly found that the small purple flowers in Nico’s crown was actually a couple of stalks of heather, with the small flowers in back part of a rhododendron plant. The small yellow flowers making up most of Will’s crown was a species of wall flower. The small white flowers Jason had noticed earlier in both of their crowns were indeed daisies, while the little pom poms were sweet-sultans. 

Piper put together the meanings much quicker than Jason, gasping a little. Jason’s own heart did a little somersault over how cute and fitting the meanings were. 

“I don’t want to tell the rest of camp what the flowers mean.” Piper said. “That should remain between them.”

Jason nodded in agreement. He looked the pink and purple sunset, lengthening the shadows around them and darkening the grass. Suddenly he spotted a tiny, yellow, half fuzzed flower in the grass, the petals remaining on the flower head turning golden in the reddish light. Suddenly he was struck by inspiration.

He stood up. “Do you think Chiron would mind if I borrowed that book? I really do need to think about what to plant for Persephone. It’s probably too late in the season now for most plants, but I can get started for the spring.”

Piper nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, I’ll go in and tell him.”

Jason nodded absently. “Yeah... I got to go...do...some things.”

Piper gave him a puzzled look. “I’ll see you at the campfire later, then?”

Jason nodded absently and then ran in the direction of the cabins, hoping that Katie Gardner of the Demeter cabin would be willing to help.

Katie was mostly confused.

“You want me to grow weeds.”

“And show me how to make a flower crown.”

“.....You do realize my mother is Demeter right?” Katie sounded unimpressed.

“...But Persephone is your sister?” Jason tried.

Katie sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not growing weeds in the middle of the Demeter cabin, they’ll just get everywhere. Usually we get rid of weeds, not force them to grow.” She seemed to think. “But I do have a younger sister. She just arrived and has been having difficulty controlling her powers and often makes weeds appear instead of disappear.... I’ll see if she has recently caused an outbreak. But I still don’t know what you want to do with a flower crown...”

Jason sighed. “That’s ok... I can probably make do with just the flowers.”

Katie nodded. Within a few minutes Jason was running back to the Zeus Cabin, a bunch of dandelions in each hand.

15 minutes and a couple of broken dandelions later, he decided to call in for advice. While he could have probably called Piper in to help, he didn’t quite want to reveal his idea to her yet, just incase it didn’t work out and he made a fool of himself. Instead he Iris messaged the best weaver he knew.

Annabeth was reading by one of the fountains in New Rome. Jason nearly startled her into dropping her book in the water, which wouldn’t have ended well for Jason. Instead, Annabeth quickly recovered and stared up at his image in the misty rainbow.

“Did you want Percy? Cause he went to go fetch ice cream.”

“No, I actually needed to talk to you Annabeth.”

“What?!” 

Jason heard Percy’s voice before he actually saw him. Black hair and sea green eyes came into focus besides Annabeth. 

“You call up my girlfriend but don’t want to talk to your bro?” Percy gave a teasing grin. “I’m hurt, Grace.”

“Shut up, Jackson. Not everything is about you.”

Percy gave a mock gasp of horror and Annabeth elbowed him in the gut. While Percy was clutching his gut in pain, Annabeth listened to Jason’s problem with the campers gossiping about Nico and Will as well as his plan to, if not make the campers stop, then at least distract them, all while eating her ice cream and not giving Percy any sympathy. 

“Well... I’ve never actually made a flower crown before, but I think it’s a lot like braiding.”

She made Percy turn around and use some of his strains of longish hair to demonstrate. Percy, of course, whined whenever she yanked a little hard. Jason followed along with the dandelion stems.

After about 15 minutes of braiding he showed his progress to Percy and Annabeth who nodded in approval. They continued to talk while Jason continued to make his braid longer. By the time he used up all of the dandelions, he had a crown that was lumpy and misshapen in spots, but a flower crown nonetheless.

He tried it on and Percy whistled. “You gonna show off your new found skills at the campfire tonight?”

Jason blanched. He almost forgot about the campfire. He looked out the window and saw the amphitheater glowing in the distance. “Shoot. I got to go guys.” They quickly said a goodbye as he waved his hand through the rainbow. 

He took off his dandelion crown and stared at it. He put it on the desk, deciding that it would make the best impression tomorrow morning. He ran down to the amphitheater, quickly making his way to Piper’s side during a sing-a-long. She took his hand, and Jason felt more confident that his plan would work.

The next morning he picked up his plans for the shrine, threw on a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and jeans and made sure his dandelion flower crown was secured. It circled his head, and fell slightly across his forehead, much like how Thalia’s silver circlet did. 

He headed out to the dining pavilion for breakfast, head held high and ignoring the stares that followed him.

Jason wasn’t all that surprised when it was Nico who mentioned it first. 

“What in Hades is on your head, Jason?”

Jason grinned. “You guys just looked so cool yesterday I had to try it out!” 

Nico scowled, but Jason noticed that he, too, wore his flower crown. Despite the day in the cold yesterday, as well as Will’s probable constant fiddling with it, Nico’s crown looked no worse for wear. Jason grinned. “Yours and Will’s are so much nicer though.” 

Nico scowled. “I can’t believe Persephone did this. It’s embarrassing.”

Jason frowned. “Then why are you still wearing it?”

Nico blushed and looked down at the table. “Will really likes them. He and Persephone got on really well at the dinner we were summoned to.” He gave a small laugh. “He was such a dork but he even made my father laugh at some of his puns.”

Jason grinned. “I’m really glad you’re happy, Nico.”

Nico looked up, then seemed to look past Jason. Jason turned, and saw Will Solace, wearing his own flower crown and laughing with his siblings. Behind him he heard Nico sigh softly.

“Yeah... I really am.”

After breakfast Piper came up to him and punched him in the arm. “So you run off and make yourself a flower crown but don’t make your girlfriend one?”

Jason chuckled halfheartedly. “I was sure if I could pull it off. I didn’t want you to think I was foolish.”

“That ship sailed a long time ago.” Piper smiled, before kissing him on the cheek. “You could have told me, you know that right?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah... it just felt like something I had to do on my own, you know?”

Piper frowned, but didn’t say anything. 

Behind him, Jason heard footsteps approaching. “What do you got on your head, Grace?”

Jason turned to see Clarisse stomping towards him in full battle gear. She was probably going to teach a class. Or coming from a class. Or possible just dressed to practice. One never really knew with Clarisse.

Jason reached up to touch his flower crown. “Like it? I saw Nico and Will sporting a couple yesterday and thought it was so cool, I had to try it out.” He grinned.

Clarisse huffed and crouched down next to him. She looked over his plans for Persephone’s shrine then made a grab for the book on flower symbolism. Jason was weary of her but tried to ignore it. He looked up once and caught her looking across the field to where Nico and Will were making in cabin infirmary visits together, Nico carrying onto a large duffel bag filled with medical supplies and Will holding a clipboard and pencil. Their crowns were still fresh as yesterday morning. 

Jason looked back at Clarisse only to find her stalking back to her own cabin, the book back in its spot next to Jason. The son of Jupiter frowned. “What was that about?”

Piper shrugged. “She’s been a little more quiet than usual since Chris left for college.” Then she grinned and swiped the flower crown off his head. “So how did you make this anyway? I’m sure Annabeth gave you some tips.”

Jason laughed and tried to get his flower crown back, but gave up when Piper placed it on her own head. It was a little too big, but she looked beautiful in it. 

After lunch, Jason had finalized his plans for Persephone’s shrine, deciding against placing it near the Hades or Demeter cabins, instead placing it a little outside of the main ring of cabins near a grove he knew flowered in the spring time. His own flower crown was back on his head while Piper was helping teach a swordsmanship class. 

He was starting to lay the foundations for the shrine when he again heard heavy foot falls behind him. He turned, surprised to see Clarisse stalking towards him, still mostly covered in armor, but where her helmet had been now sat a ring of tightly wound laurel leaves, a prize Jason vaguely remembered Clarisse winning in some contest earlier in the summer. Stuck amongst the leaves were several bunches of snapdragons. 

She glared when she caught him staring. “The snapdragons are a gift from my mom for my birthday.” she stated. “Solace and di Angelo aren’t the only ones who look good in a flower crown.”

Jason just smiled. “Of course, Clarisse.” 

She continued to watch him work, criticizing at times, but Jason listened to her comments, working to make the shrine better. She started to help with the construction. Will and Nico came by later. 

“Gorgeous crown, Clarisse!” Will called. 

“Better than the load of weeds you got in your hair, Solace.” Clarisse called back, but she smiled a little.

“Aw, my flowers only radiate my stunning personality!” Will said cheerfully as Nico grabbed his arm. With his other hand, the son of Hades waved at Jason. Together they walked in the direction of the beach.

“If you ever need help beating up anyone who talks bad about them, I got your back.” 

Jason turned back to Clarisse, who was focused on her work but she met his eyes when he turned. An understanding passed between them and they quietly return to their work.

Piper eventually found them taking a break later. Jason was laughing at something Clarisse had said but turned when he saw his girlfriend walking up. 

“Piper you look-”

“Ridiculous?” she chuckled.

“Stunning.”

Nestled in her hair was a ring of... were those orchids? The petals looked delicate, but remained in place, as if giving off their own inner strength. 

Piper grinned. “I found it by my stuff after I finished training some of my younger cabinmates. I guess Persephone heard my scolding that you didn’t make me a flower crown.”

“I couldn’t make one that looked that good.”

“I would have loved it anyway.”

Together, Jason, Piper and Clarisse made their way down to the dining pavilion for dinner. They met up with Will and Nico about halfway there and they all sat together to eat. Now a days, after much complaining from the other cabins, the strict “no sitting at other gods’ tables” wasn’t as enforced. Most cabinmates still sat together, but now friends from other cabins could take their meals together as well. 

Jason could feel the eyes of other campers staring at them, but glares from both Clarisse and Nico shamed most of them away. 

The next day, Jason went out again in his flower crown, though it was now starting to look a little worse for wear. He was somewhat unsurprised to spot other demigods sporting their own flower crowns.

Connor and Travis both had crowns of tiny, white and pink flowers, while Butch wore his wreath of irises proudly. Lou Ellen wore a wreath of ferns and Clarisse continued to wear her homemade laurel and snapdragon wreath, while several of her cabin mates sported similar creations. Katie Gardner wore a crown of wheat while the little sister who gave Jason her dandelion collection wore a crown very similar to Jason’s own. 

By the time Percy and Annabeth came to visit during a long weekend towards the middle of the month, the flower crown fad had spread through most of the camp. Some campers found crowns made for them in their beds or by their desks some mornings, while other campers constructed their own out of whatever materials they could find. The Nike kids had sequestered themselves into their cabin a while ago, declaring that they would construct the best flower crowns of all. They hadn’t emerged much since, fighting within the cabin over who made the best crown. The Athena cabin won hands down for the best handmade crowns, showing off their tightly woven creations. 

Jason hadn’t really been expecting to start a fad when he created his dandelion crown. It worked though to make what had made Nico and Will stand out in a perceived negative light, into a more positive experience. Jason still wore his crown on a daily basis, though now it was definitely starting to show its age. 

Will and Nico, for the most part, seemed to ignore the flower crown fad around them, though campers had started to bug Nico for flower meanings.

Nico had stolen Jason’s borrowed copy of the floriography book shortly after the fad started, claiming that he would like to atleast have a basic understanding of the symbolism if Persephone was going to start communicating like this on a weekly basis. Like his absorption of mythomagic rules and stats from long ago, Nico soaked up the information like a sponge, quickly learning and retaining the symbolic meanings, ready to spout them to anyone willing to ask.

Percy had attempted to make his own crown, but instead made it out of seaweed. It didn’t work, at all. Jason eventually had to distract Percy long enough for Annabeth to confiscate and dispose of the smelly, messy disaster, replacing it with a crown of green roses and oak leaves. How Annabeth managed to find green roses in the middle of October, Jason will never know. Her own crown was constructed out of a ring of sage and bright pink and white flowers that Jason was pretty sure were some kind of lily. 

The night before Percy and Annabeth were to leave again, there was a feast for most of the year round campers. Jason had just finished constructing the shrines and and would be spending another week or two with Piper and the rest of Camp Half Blood before heading back to Camp Jupiter to build more shrines and help Reyna and Frank host the Plebeian Games. 

Everyone was sitting with their friends at the dining pavilion. Most had on flower crowns, though many had wilted or dried by now, especially those that had been homemade. Only Nico’s and Will’s remained as bright and vibrant as the first day they wore them, and Jason suspected it had to do with Persephone’s blessing. Jason’s own flower crown was nearly falling apart, but he decided to wear it until he left.

Before they headed out to the amphitheater for a sing along, Will grabbed on to Jason’s elbow. Nico and Piper looked back quizzically but Will waved them on explaining that he had to talk to Jason for a moment.

Jason looked at the Son of Apollo. The younger blond looked nearly identical to his immortal father, and again Jason wondered what had happened to the god. Rachel said that the oracle remained silent and if Mr. D. knew what Apollo’s punishment was, he certainly wasn’t telling. 

“Hey.” Will’s voice dragged Jason out of his thoughts. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Hmm?” Jason asked.

“For the flower crown thing. Nico would never admit it to anyone else, but he really was happy to wear his crown, but was getting agitated at what people were saying behind our backs.”

“I thought you guys didn't hear...” Jason trailed off when Will shrugged.

“Gossip travels pretty fast. Anyway, I wanted to just thank you for your gesture of solidarity.” Will smiled.

Jason grinned back. “I just wanted to show the other campers that my friends were cool and fashion forward.”

“Yeah, I’m your friend too, Grace?” Will asked.

Jason swung an arm around the son of Apollo’s shoulders. “Of course, your my friend. Unless you make Nico cry, in which case I’ll pummel you into the ground, and Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, Reyna, Frank and probably Clarisse would help me hide the body.”

Will winced. “Gee, thanks.” Then he laughed. “I’m gonna try to make sure that’ll never happen. We may fight, no couple is perfect, but I want to make him happy as long as he’ll have me.”

Jason removed his arm and started to take the path to the amphitheater. “I don’t think he’s gonna give you up anytime soon.”

They made their way to the amphitheater together, laughing as they caught up with their respective significant others.

The next morning, Jason woke up and began to feel for his glasses, which should have been on the nightstand next to his flower crown. Instead of familiar metal frames next to thin, wilted flowers, his hand brushed something much larger and bushier. 

Opening his eyes Jason shoved his glasses on. Where his dandelion crown had been the previous night, now lay a brand new crown of oak leaves and large rose like flowers, camellias perhaps, and was studded with tiny, fresh dandelions. 

Jason glanced down at the book he meant to return to Chiron after breakfast. Glancing through it quickly, he found the meaning of his new crown.

He wore the crown proudly on his way to breakfast. As he passed by Persephone’s newly created shrine, he plucked a single dandelion from his crown and placed it near the door as an offering. 

“You’re Welcome.” 

Bonus Underworld Story

Hades was only mildly unhappy. While his dining room, a normally cold and dark place, was now vibrant with various floral and plant cuttings, and of course his wife in the middle of it all, the perfumes were starting to make his nose itch.

“My dear, don’t you think this is getting slightly out of hand?”

“Nonsense! I haven't had this much fun since the 1800s in England.” Persephone murmured, her voice a little raspy from her time in the underworld.

“Yes, but you even started making flower crowns for the hell hounds.”

“I think they look lovely in a garland of monkshood.” Persephone laughed. “Besides, don’t you like your own crown?” She looked up at him, daring him to say anything other than ‘Of course my dear, it is quite lovely.’

Hades sighed, exasperated but resigned. “Of course I do my dear.” He wandered off to a hopefully saner, less perfumed area of his palace. It was only after he left Persephone’ earshot that he grumbled. “But you could have at least added a few bones to make it more imposing...”

**Author's Note:**

> Flower meanings:
> 
> Oh boy, as stated before this one got a bit farther away from me than I intended. So If I miss any of the flowers mentioned, please let me know so I can add them. If you have any questions on the flower meanings: 
> 
> Nico’s crown: Lavender Heather, Rhododendron, Sweet-Sultans, Daisies- Lavender heather signifies solitude and admiration, Rhododendron means “I am dangerous.” Sweet-Sultans signify happiness while daisies demonstrate loyal love and innocence. 
> 
> Will’s crown - Sweet-Sultans and Daisies, Wallflowers and Crocus - The sweet sultans signifiy the same for Will as they do for Nico. Wallflowers are small yellow flowers that grown in the chinks and cracks of walls, and as such, signify faithful in adversity while, as Piper explained, the Crocus signifies foresight and cheerfulness.
> 
> Jason’s first crown: Dandelions- as I mentioned in the previous fic, Dandelions mean “Faithfulness and Happiness.”  
> Clarisse’s crown - Laurels meant victory for the greeks, while snapdragons signify “Strength” and “Gracious lady”
> 
> Piper - The orchids on Pipers crown are specifically Cattleyas, meaning “maturity and charm, thoughtfulness” (I was going for Piper is one of the most mature campers rather than a matronly maturity.) 
> 
> Connor and Travis - Traveler’s Joy - Rest and Safety, picked for their father, Hermes
> 
> Butch - Iris - Inspiration and Valor... and for his mom
> 
> Lou Ellen - Ferns - Magic and Confidence
> 
> Percy - Ok, just so we’re clear, Seaweed doesn’t mean anything except as a reference to “Seaweed Brain.” The Oak Leaves signify bravery, while the green roses signify rejuvination of spirit. Alternatively, one website I found also said that green roses can say “I am from Mars” (the planet... not the Roman deity). I’m fairly sure that was a joke, but if not, green roses are probably the floriography equivalent of “You Seaweed Brain!”
> 
> Annabeth-Sage and Stargazer lilies - Sage signifies wisdom while the stargazer lily demonstrates ambition. 
> 
> Jason’s second flower crown - Oak leaves for bravery, Dandelions again for happiness and the camelia flower is often given to men as good luck gifts but they also signify gratitude, 
> 
> For those wondering- the flowers Jason planted at Proserpina shrine, the purple tulips and bluebells, signify royalty and humility/constancy respecitvely. So I think Proserpina will be pleased with those choices Jason. Also, he used bulb plants that needed to be planted in autumn because Romans believed that Proserpina stored protected their seeds in the ground over the winter while she was in the Underworld.
> 
> Bonus Flower crowns!
> 
> Monkshood - danger is near. Don’t you think Mrs. O’Leary would look lovely in a flower crown?
> 
> Hades’ crown - Dead men’s bells, Asphodel, and Poppies - Dead Men’s bells - chosen mostly for the name but also mean Stateliness, Asphodel- “My regrets follow you to the grave”, Poppies - Eternal sleep and Oblivion. 
> 
> Again, I think i got them all, but if I missed a flower, or if you want me to explain further why I chose a certain flower or plant, let me know in the comments.
> 
> On another note, are there any other outside POV’s of Will and Nico’s relationship that you, the reader, would like to see? Perhaps something not as floriography heavy as this one ended up, but would still contain some floral elements. Let me know whose point of view you think I should attempt next in the comments!


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